Future for foreign languages in Wales 'grim', says expert

Ceri James believes funding cuts have taken their toll on the teaching of modern foreign languages

UK's reputation as a nation of "poor linguists" who are reluctant to value languages other than English must be changed, MPs and peers have warned

The former head of Wales’ national centre for languages believes the prospects for modern foreign languages “look decidedly grim” following a decision to slash public funding in the area.

Ceri James, whose 11-year spell as director of Cardiff-based Cilt Cymru came to an end last month, said cutting the body’s funding from just over £600,000 to £200,000 “must have felt like another nail in the coffin” for modern foreign languages (MFL) teachers.

Writing for the Guardian, Mr James said Cilt Cymru had sought innovative ways to increase MFL take-up, but “without strong strategic support from [the] Welsh Government” it had been powerless to reverse its decline and the prospects for MFL in Wales “look decidedly grim”.

The number of students taking a GCSE in foreign languages has fallen from 55% in 1995 to 22% in 2013 and Mr James believes it is “crunch-time for MFL in Wales”.

He said: “As the former director of Cilt Cymru... my sporting cliché of choice would be that of the tightrope walker. Funded by the Welsh Government on an annual basis since 2002 and with an excellent reputation for our work with schools and their pupils, we have been staring into the abyss for the past five years.

“Mass redundancy notices have become a perennial hazard. So when I was told in January that our funding was being cut and that I, along with a number of my colleagues, were being made redundant, it felt like I was in free fall.

“The Welsh Government has progressively backed away from the commitments it made in its 2002 MFL strategy document Languages Count. A six-year primary MFL pilot managed successfully by Cilt Cymru from 2003-09 was unceremoniously dumped, despite the investment of £1.5m of public money and great enthusiasm from teachers, learners, parents and school governors.”

Mr James’ comments come as MPs today warn that the UK’s reputation as a nation of “poor linguists” reluctant to value other languages must be changed.

Languages are as important to the UK’s future as science and maths-based subjects, and more needs to be done to ensure these skills are recognised and encouraged, according to an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the subject.

It has published a new “manifesto for languages” calling for a UK recovery programme aimed at boosting the numbers of people who can speak another language besides English.

The document says that knowledge of other languages is important not only for education and skills, but for the economy, international and community relations, defence and security.

Without a “step-change” in the UK’s attitude towards, and ability in, languages, the UK’s economy will suffer, young people will be unable to compete with their peers internationally and the nation’s international reputation will be damaged, it says.

“We need sustained action across the UK to revive national competence in languages and to arrest the growing tendency for language learning to be the preserve of an intellectual or affluent elite,” the APPG said.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government said: “We recognise the importance of our young people being able to speak a modern foreign language, which is why learning one is a statutory requirement at Key Stage 3 and why we promote courses at Key Stage 4 and in post-16 learning.

“Clearly we are not producing the numbers of linguists we would like and that is why we are having to think very carefully about the structure of MFL education. The current independent review of assessment and curriculum arrangements in Wales by Professor Graham Donaldson includes consideration of how we should deliver MFL learning in the future.”

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